Duke/Maryland Riots....the Role Of ESPN

[docicu3]

Opening my mail today I noticed a piece from the University of Maryland where my youngest son attends. Certain money would soon be the subject of the letter, you can imagine my reaction to the school's apology for the behavior of the undergrads involved in "rioting" following the men's basketball success over Duke earlier this week.

And then it struck me...................

When is the school and local law enforcement going to responsibly react to evenings like Weds. night with a useful action of consequence that identifies the other culprits responsible for these "riots" guaranteed to decrease these episodes of over zealous celebration and destruction.

HOLD ESPN RESPONSIBLE...

As soon as the clock struck zero, an orange mass of our sons and daughters stormed the court like a military seizure who's only mission in life was to create a celebration that kept the cameras rolling and the TV's lit with chaos that people will remember for decades.

IF ESPN WANTED THESE EVENTS TO STOP ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS STOP SHOWING THE FOOTAGE OF THEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

This gargantuan media monster (ESPN) with fewer morals and shakier ethics than these kids were raised with would fuel this fire with 24 hours of gasoline begun by focusing on the post game court for 20 MINUTES after the end of the game, followed by 24 hours of SC highlighting these kids competing with other schools across the coutry who had longer, more destructive, violent expressions of what not to do at a collegiate sporting even.

ESPN obviously keeping the atmosphere quiet and serene using such low key reporters such as Erin Andrews who must be an awfully accomplished athlete to roam sidelines of the NFL,MLB,NBA and of course anything NCAA eliciting just the right touch of frat humor to the festivities.

When "streaking" was the rave, network TV cameras turned away, when fans stormed players on fields of all sports the cameras were turned away to stop the attention for all who behaved badly. Maybe ESPN should actually consider less airtime, fewer games for schools who are involved in episodes like this in an attempt to actually curb the behavior without worrying about making sweeps money on these kids behaving badly.

And where is the conscious of these sports and campuses, the sportswriters such as usually outspoken Wilbon, Kornheiser or Costas all employed by ABC which owns ESPN and HBO via Disney or the athletic directors who simply pull the covers of the financial bed up over there eyes,ears and mouths lest they lose the millions of reasons that make the whole circus possible.

Of course these kids should face the discipline process and if found guilty be suspended if not expelled but if you want a country to take you seriously Mr.ESPN for taking 2 weeks of TK's candy for goofing on Hannah Storm's clothes maybe you should make a sizable contribution to these schools that have suffered for the ratings you create through means you should be beyond ashamed of.

If the Univ. of Md wants to apologize for my sons behavior Wed. night as he watched the game from his campus room studying for a math test Thursday, who then apologizes for ESPN and the Univ. of Maryland for creating a 24 hour telethon broadcast long after the last seconds of a great game ended.

[GBBob]

No offense Doc...and I am the last person to back ESPN...but...

and I have no idea what happened, for what it's worth. But I can guess

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

Originally Posted by docicu3

Opening my mail today I noticed a piece from the University of Maryland where my youngest son attends. Certain money would soon be the subject of the letter, you can imagine my reaction to the school's apology for the behavior of the undergrads involved in "rioting" following the men's basketball success over Duke earlier this week.

And then it struck me...................

When is the school and local law enforcement going to responsibly react to evenings like Weds. night with a useful action of consequence that identifies the other culprits responsible for these "riots" guaranteed to decrease these episodes of over zealous celebration and destruction.

HOLD ESPN RESPONSIBLE...

As soon as the clock struck zero, an orange mass of our sons and daughters stormed the court like a military seizure who's only mission in life was to create a celebration that kept the cameras rolling and the TV's lit with chaos that people will remember for decades.

IF ESPN WANTED THESE EVENTS TO STOP ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS STOP SHOWING THE FOOTAGE OF THEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

This gargantuan media monster (ESPN) with fewer morals and shakier ethics than these kids were raised with would fuel this fire with 24 hours of gasoline begun by focusing on the post game court for 20 MINUTES after the end of the game, followed by 24 hours of SC highlighting these kids competing with other schools across the coutry who had longer, more destructive, violent expressions of what not to do at a collegiate sporting even.

ESPN obviously keeping the atmosphere quiet and serene using such low key reporters such as Erin Andrews who must be an awfully accomplished athlete to roam sidelines of the NFL,MLB,NBA and of course anything NCAA eliciting just the right touch of frat humor to the festivities.

When "streaking" was the rave, network TV cameras turned away, when fans stormed players on fields of all sports the cameras were turned away to stop the attention for all who behaved badly. Maybe ESPN should actually consider less airtime, fewer games for schools who are involved in episodes like this in an attempt to actually curb the behavior without worrying about making sweeps money on these kids behaving badly.

And where is the conscious of these sports and campuses, the sportswriters such as usually outspoken Wilbon, Kornheiser or Costas all employed by ABC which owns ESPN and HBO via Disney or the athletic directors who simply pull the covers of the financial bed up over there eyes,ears and mouths lest they lose the millions of reasons that make the whole circus possible.

Of course these kids should face the discipline process and if found guilty be suspended if not expelled but if you want a country to take you seriously Mr.ESPN for taking 2 weeks of TK's candy for goofing on Hannah Storm's clothes maybe you should make a sizable contribution to these schools that have suffered for the ratings you create through means you should be beyond ashamed of.

If the Univ. of Md wants to apologize for my sons behavior Wed. night as he watched the game from his campus room studying for a math test Thursday, who then apologizes for ESPN and the Univ. of Maryland for creating a 24 hour telethon broadcast long after the last seconds of a great game ended.

your right .. but its news they may help make it..but its news

[DerbyCat]

I am responsible for game management at a small D-I university (but have worked at three other D-I schools, including a PAC-10 school) and I can tell you the administration and conference is even more so at fault because they encourage and allow it, ESPN just fuels the fire by showing it. Students think rushing the floor is a part of the game - if you win you get to jump all over the place and act like a buffoon.

My philosophy has always been that rushing the floor is a huge liability and I discourage it and do not condone it. I use the example of a high school kid in Arizona who was rushed on the court by his friends after winning a big game and had his aorta torn away by the impact (Google: Joe Kay, Tucson, AZ). No one means to hurt someone in the excitement but it can happen. Some conferences have rules that if your fans rush the court after a big win, your school is fined (Example: SEC fined South Carolina this year) - now that can be a bit of a deterrent but I don't know of any other conferences that fine schools. So what if your administration encourages it? That's what has happened to me where I work. We have a railing between the student section and the court, there is a drop off of about 5' down to the court from top of the rail. We also have donors sitting in courtside seats about 4' in front of this section. Both of these things make for a great natural barrier to discourage the students from rushing the court (and it helps that we don't win much so we rarely have to deal with this problem). My staff is very good about telling the students to stay in their section and off the floor. Last year we had a big win when we beat one of the top teams in the conference (their star player was out that game with an injury) and the staff able to get the students to stay in their section after the buzzer went off - what happened next pissed me off - as the teams are leaving the court (a couple minutes had passed) our head coach goes over to the student section, gets the students all fired up and then WAVES THEM ON TO THE COURT! They jump over the railing, push aside some donors and jump around on the middle of the floor for about 30 seconds... and then they all wandered off. First off - Bush League to wait two minutes (after ESPN had already gone to commercial) before charging the court, then it was like they had no idea what they were supposed to do once they got there The administrators thought it was great for "school spirit" and there were no consequences for the coach. Now, like a pitbull that has tasted blood, they want more of it - every close game they get ready to make a run for it (luckily we lost a lot this year). Someone will get hurt, and Game Management will get blamed when it happens.

ESPN constantly showing footage of court/field rushes makes students think that's part of the college experience. Therefor, administrators think it's good for school spirit. It will take students dying before the NCAA will take action to curb this behavior. I just hope the deaths don't happen at my school.

[Cannon Shell]

Fans have been rushing the court/field long before ESPN was around. Check out the end of the 58 championship ("greatest game ever played") between the Giants and Colts or the 1976 AL championship game (Chambliss walkoff HR) or the 1984 NBA championship game 7 (Celts and Lakers in the Boston Garden). The schools, conferences, arena security and NCAA are to blame because pro sports have shown how to eliminate this issue.